Hydrogen-powered robot fish swims for days

We have written about the robotic gliders being deployed just off the Cape Verde Islands, but the inhabitants of the world's oceans would probably be a little less perturbed by robots made to look just like them.

Academics from Osaka City University are working on a robotic fish that could swim continuously for three days, with the intention of mounting cameras inside them for aquatic research.

The robot, which currently exists as a prototype design, is powered by a hydrogen peroxide fuel cell. Its movements, say the team, can be programmed.

The team initially built a smaller fish robot, which does not have an onboard fuel cell but is instead powered by a more conventional battery, floating above it on a buoy. The fish robot shown in the video below is being powered by a lithium polymer battery.

Its movement is made possible by a magnetic actuator, which uses a tiny 10 milliwatts of power. The fish can also rise and sink, much like a real fish, by changing the centre of gravity of its "sinker device". Earlier models were powered by a motor, but this, explains associate professor, Yogo Takada, used more than one watt.

Takada adds that the hope is that later models may have inbuilt cameras, allowing shoals to be deployed for search and rescue operations or marine resource surveys.

Edited by Nate Lanxon

Comments

What happens when these little guys are eaten by other marine species?!